Indicative rates and fees

Council set indicative rates and fees for Action Plan 2015 – 2018. These rates and fees, together with Council Priorities, help City staff prepare the business plans and budgets by providing direction and spending limits. These rates and fees are indicative only, and final rates and fees will be set during Council’s deliberation of Action Plan 2015 – 2018 beginning November 24. See the Council Priorities FAQ for more information.

Indicative property tax rate of 4.7% for 2015 - 2018

Property taxes pay for services Calgarians use everyday including police, fire, transit, roads and pathways, parks, recreation, 311, garbage collection and many other services. Approximately 60% of your property tax goes to The City of Calgary. The other 40% goes directly to the Province.

Property taxes, including residential, non-residential and business, currently accounts for 42% of The City’s overall revenues. In 2014, the typical Calgary household will pay $134 per month on their property taxes based on a median single residential property assessed at $430,000.

For Action Plan, this indicative rate means the median household would see a monthly property tax increase of $6.30 in 2015, $6.60 in 2016, $6.90 in 2017 and $7.25 in 2018, if the indicative rates are approved in November during Council deliberations. See the Council Priorities FAQ for more information.

Council set indicative rates for water, wastewater and drainage

The water utility is facing upward pressures on rates to keep pace with a growing city, meet increasingly stringent regulatory requirements, and maintain assets. Essential water infrastructure investments are required to protect public health and continue to provide high quality services to meet the growing needs of Calgary. For example, Calgary’s largest wastewater treatment plant is approaching capacity and needs to be expanded in order to meet future population growth. The expansion is significant and requires an investment of about $700 million. See Council Priorities FAQ for more information.

If approved by Council in November, the average household monthly bill for water and wastewater service would increase by $6.95 in 2015. Drainage rates are also increasing to improve drainage service in older communities that experience flooding during extreme rainfall events and to maintain high quality drainage service for all. The monthly drainage increase is $1.76 per month per household in 2015. Despite the increases, Calgarians still pay less than a cent a litre for water.

The City of Calgary would like to remind customers that when it comes to water, you pay for what you use. Many Calgarians have already saved water and money by adopting simple water conservation actions like:

using rain barrels

ensuring they have a water meter

fixing leaks.

For example, finding and fixing one leaky toilet can save a household over $100 in a year.

Council set indicative rates for Waste & Recycling Services

Council also set indicative rates for Waste & Recycling Services. This included a $6.50 monthly fee for Green Cart composting service which is scheduled to start in 2017. The Green Cart composting program builds on the success of the pilot program which has seen participants reduce garbage by 40 per cent. Material that would have been buried in the landfills is now being turned into useful compost. Green cart fees will only start when the service is launched in 2017. Other indicative rates that were set include an inflationary increase to Blue Cart Recycling monthly household fee by $0.20 in 2015. The waste management charge will not increase. See Council Priorities FAQ for more information.